Elden Ring Boss Guide: Radahn (2023)

Starscourge Radahn (also known as General Radahn) is one of theold ringThe most historical figures of . NPC dialogue, cutscenes, and item descriptions paint a picture of an unstoppable warrior who fought the goddess Melenia and her Crimson Rot. Your boss fight is appropriately cinematic, with a huge arena where all the normal rules are thrown out of whack. You can ride Torrent and circle around Radahn, and even summon countless NPC allies. Even so, it won't be easy for you, and that's where our Boss Radahn guide comes in.

table of contents

Preparing for Radahn's Fight

• golden seeds
• another team

Learn to Fight Radahn

• The subpoena case
• Focus
• An aside about Torrent
• Stage 1 Rad
• Stage 2 Rad

Getting ready for the fight

the region ofFallenit's serious hell, so it's understandable if you haven't fully explored it before fighting Radahn. However, there are a few items it would be wise to take with you before challenging General Starscourge.

golden seeds

Caelid is a large area, but no matter how much time you spend exploring, you'll only find three golden seeds in its fetid plague swamps, dragon lairs, and cursed cities (at least, before fighting Radahn). Fortunately, we'll just tell you where they are so you can spend as little time here as possible.

Imagem: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

south ofsacred beast: If you haven't visited this horror show yet, don't worry, you don't have to go through the giant dragon that guards the bridge to get there. The east bank of the river north of theThird Church of Marikahidden in the east of Limgrave is a portal that teleports you directly to the shrine. Okay, there's another huge enemy that you'll have to dodge by going south from there, so, uh, good luck.

Imagem: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

not far north ofSellia, City of Sorcery: While you're here, you can start a long side quest centered around a character named Millicent. Or you could just attack through the front gate, get to the other side of town as quickly as possible, grab the golden seed, and get the hell out of there. On the other hand, if youto dochoose to at least start the quest for Millicent, you can also take theholy tearnochurch pragueWhere did you meet her?

On the way tored mane castle: South of where the Caelid Map Fragment and the Nomad Trader are, you'll find a Golden Seed along the way. Just watch out for the huge dragons.

another team

Imagem: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

If you are creating an int/dex character, no journey to Caelid is complete without picking upmoon veil, one of the most powerful swords in The Lands Between. You'll find him in a dungeon calledgaelic tunnel, where you'll face a tough fight with a Magma Wyrm boss to claim the sword. It's worth it: Moonveil scales intelligently and deals magic damage, and has one of the most powerful and versatile L2 moves in the game, letting you choose between light and heavy magic slashes that break enemies' balance and deal magic damage.

And if you want something to pair it with, go to theCatacombs touched by deathback to Limgrave. you will find theMeetingon a corpse there. The Uchi is fantastic dual wielding with Moonveil, and assuming you got theGlossy Stone Sharpening BladeemRaya Lucaria, you can add icy affinity to really give Radahn the deal.

If you're more of a spell caster type,Honda de rocaIt will prove to be your most effective tool. Get it from an underground chest in theRuins of Rua dos Sageson top of the large swamp in central Caelid (the stairs are just above the ruins map icon). Rock Sling deals physical damage and is especially effective at cutting off Radahn's balance, staggering him and giving you a high chance for damage.

Radahn's only notable resistance is holy damage, so spellcasters can use any other spell they're comfortable with, while spellcasters of faith can try lightning or fire enchantments. As for status effects,to bleedyfrostboth are very effective against the legendary general. Using the dual katana build we outlined above, we were able to take him down even before he entered his second phase, which he should have done at around 50% health.

Imagem: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

Radahn is also susceptible to scarlet rot, so if you're a faith caster with at least 12 points in the arcane stat, go for dragon enchantment.rotten breathnoDragon Communion Cathedralin southern Caelid. (There are also scarlet rot throwing pots, but the recipe needed to make them is underground in an area you probably haven't reached yet.)

Imagem: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

Lastly, Radahn has some long combos and you'll have a hard time maintaining your stamina whether you're trying to block or dodge them. You might want to purchase some amulets to increase stamina, such as theGreen Turtle Talisman(enhanced stamina recovery) located in a stone sword key crypt insummoning the Water Village,or theviridian amber locket(increased maximum resistance) found in thetomb cavedungeon inweeping peninsula.

Learn to Fight Radahn

Whether you're tackling Radahn now for the first time or coming back after a few less successful previous attempts, there's good news: Patch 1.03.1 was released a few weeks later.old ringThe release of seems to have made this boss significantly easier. According toeold ringtwitter data miner, Radahn's damage, attack hitboxes, and more have all been nerfed, creating a very different boss fight than players faced in the first few weeks.

That said, Radahn still has long combos and powerful attacks that can take him down if you're not careful.

The subpoena case

Fighting with Radahn is unique because it allows you to summon a small army of NPC allies to fight with you, and you can even summon them infinitely. Each time they fall, their summoning signs reappear somewhere new on the battlefield. Taking advantage of these summons can make the fight easier, as Radah tends to focus on them; if you plan on trying to attack the boss from a distance with magic or arrows, it is recommended to use summons. Also, it's fun to see a group of allies mourning the giant boss.

You can also summon other players using afurlcalling finger remedyand looking for summon signs on the beach near the teleporter that transports you into the fight. Summoning other players prevents you from mounting Torrent during the fight and gives Radahn more health, but it can also be useful to have more friends in the fray.

Whether you want to take down Radahn with as many allies as possible or challenge the Starscourge General to a one-on-one duel is totally up to you.

Focus

You start the fight away from Radahn, but that won't stop him from shooting huge gravity-driven arrows at you. You can use the debris around the battlefield to block them or try to avoid them, which isn't too difficult. If you are going to summon NPC allies, now is the time to do so, as the initial summon signs are located near where you spawn.

If you missed calling other players to help you, you can jump into the Torrent and use the horse's dodge ability to evade Radahn's arrows when approaching him. If there are other players with you, they'll likely head straight for the boss while you summon the NPCs. Otherwise, they can simply attack him together, avoiding Radahn's ranged attacks until they close in and he draws his swords.

An aside about Torrent

As an aside, keep in mind that you can do all of this fighting in Torrent, even if you summon NPC allies. You don't actually need to interact with Radahn. You can just ride across the dunes on your horse, continually summoning Blaidd, Okina, and the rest while letting them fight for you. It's not fast or honorable, but it definitely works.

If you want to fight for real, read on.

Stage 1 Rad

As soon as Radahn draws his swords, he begins. The key to both phases of this fight is learning Radahn's attacks: which ones you can avoid, which ones you can get past without getting shot if you want to try and get some extra damage, and which ones leave you more vulnerable.

As a general rule, you should stay behind him as much as possible. While several of Radahn's attacks land in a wide area around him, his rear is generally the safest place to attack. This is easier if you have subpoenas with you. Otherwise, he will continuously turn towards you and you will have to be really good at dodging his attacks.

how manyold ringbosses, Radahn usually stands still for long periods with his swords raised before putting them down. If you want to dodge his punches, there's no way around learning these times. Fortunately, Radahn only has a handful of different patterns at this stage:

• He leads his horse in a wide arc with weapons raised, bringing them down for a series of blows.

• A four to five hit combo centered in front of him.
• A fast downstroke with very little string. This one is particularly hard to dodge, but it's also unlikely to fire at you.
• A spinning slash that can hit you multiple times if you don't anticipate it and move out of the way.

• A quick slash followed by a quick slash
• A series of quick forward punches that can be devastating if you're caught in front of him, but provide an opportunity for sustained damage if you're behind him when the combo starts.

Additionally, Radahn will pause midway through his first phase to slam his blades into the ground and empower them with gravity magic. After this point, he gains the ability to pull it towards him, which he sometimes follows up with a large explosion that spawns multiple seeking projectiles. Fortunately, it's easy to avoid taking too much damage from these attacks, as their timing is predictable and they provide another great opportunity to deal damage.

Another thing you have to be careful about is invaders. Yes, by mistake or on purpose, invading players can appear in the boss arena as red ghosts. It's fun trying to fight an invader and Radahn at the same time, so if that happens to you, consider yourself lucky and enjoy the added challenge.

With his health below 50%, Radahn will take off into the sky, indicating that phase 2 is about to begin.

Stage 2 Rad

The most dangerous thing that happens in the second phase of Radahn's fight is his initial re-entry onto the battlefield. The boss swoops down like a giant flaming comet, and even after the nerf, he can still shoot you if you're too close to where he decides to land. Unfortunately, survival mostly depends on luck, as it can come from any direction and is strangely difficult to dodge.

Once Radahn is back on the ground, the fight is much the same as in phase 1. Radahn's combos remain largely unchanged, although some attacks have added area damage. At some point, he will summon large purple rocks from the ground. While he's casting, this is a good time to take some damage. These stones may or may not fall on you. We've fought dozens of times, and most of the time they've just hung in the air, to no avail. Even when they do, since the nerf, they don't do much damage, so you can ignore them.

Radahn also gets a new aerial attack that sends a wave of damaging energy at you, but it's very easy to dodge. Anyway, the strategy for phase 2 is the same as for phase 1: learn his attack patterns, stay behind him as much as possible, and apply damage and status effects until the Starscourge General goes down.

Once this is done, you will have access to theStarscourge Greatswords, one of the best weapons in the game, through its memory item, in addition to being able to continuesearch of ranniheading towards the meteor hole. And don't worry, there are many more challenges ahead.